Who will be producing the metals vital to the US economy? MPD luncheon speaker testified before Congress

Moats delivered his talk to more than 400 SME members in the packed MPD luncheon ballroom. On Feb. 9, Michael Moats was standing before a U.S. House of Representatives panel to provide expert testimony on the production of critical minerals in the United States and the impact that foreign production of these minerals will have on the country. On March 1, a full-capacity crowd was on hand to listen to him speak on the topic “Who is going to produce all these metals?” as the featured speaker of the Mineral & Metallurigcal Processing Division (MPD) luncheon. The media often focuses on battery minerals and rare earths. “But if you don’t have gallium, you don’t have Wi-Fi. If you don’t have indium, you don’t have the touchscreen. If you don’t have tellurium, you don’t have some solar panels,” said Moats, who is chair of materials science and engineering at the Missouri University of Science & Technology and has more than 30 years of experience as an extractive metallurgist. A feature on his testimony before the House Committee on Natural Resources’ Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations is scheduled for Mining Engineering. Scholarships and student posters During the luncheon the MPD’s scholarship recipients were presented with their certificates, and before the luncheon 23 students presented posters on their research work to judges. The top seven graduate and top three undergraduate posters receive cash prizes of up to $1,000, and their abstracts will be published in the SME Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration journal. Faces of the future: MPD scholarship winners (left to right) Isabel Penaloza, Oznur Onel, Madison Sandoval, Jose Andres Restropo Marulanda and Younes Shekarian; Lix Shirley Tafur Figueroa was unable to attend. Posters (far left) lined up for the MPD Student Poster Contest. SME shows its wild side at Scotch Nightcap Bass Metals celebrates sixth year with sell-out crowd Quick — name one top reason why you need to register early for next year’s MINEXCHANGE. If you answered, “To make sure I score tickets to the Scotch Nightcap,” then you are in good company. Tuesday night is when SME members let their hair down at the Scotch Nightcap event. The Bass Metals band, who are SME members by day and rockers by night, returned this year for its sixth year to a soldout crowd for its “Rocky Mountain Reverberations” tour. Opening for the band were their special guests SoME of All Parts. The band members are founder and lead guitarist Dave Meadows, guitarist Joe Dziedzina, bass guitarist John Meadows, drummer Daniel Dossey, vocalist and acoustic guitarist Jason Tomasino, and vocalist and keyboardist Sami Davis. Vocalist Sami Davis (left) has the audience dancing the night away. Band members (right) Dziedzina, Davis, Dossey, Tomasino, and John and Dave Meadows. Register early to get tickets Bass Metals will be back for MINEXCHANGE 2024 in Phoenix, AZ. Make sure you get your tickets early. Save the date, and get updates at #MINEXCHANGE2024 Left to right: Yeonuk Choi, Milton E. Wadsworth Award recipient; Robert Dunne, standing in for Robert H. Richards Award recipient Stephen Morrell; and Cyril T. O’Connor, Antoine M. Gaudin Award recipient. Award lecturers share experiences and expertise At the Mineral & Metallurgical Processing Division (MPD) Plenary Session, the three top MPD award recipients shared lifetimes’ of experiences and knowledge of their fields of expertise with the audience. Antoine M. Gaudin Award recipient Cyril O’Connor gave a “Review of Major Developments in Our Understanding of the Chemistry of Flotation Since the 1st IMPC in London in 1952.” His lecture highlighted the many major developments in the understanding of flotation since 1952, both in terms of physical and especially chemical factors influencing the process. Stephen Morrell, recipient of the Robert H. Richards Award, was unable to attend in person at the last minute. Rising to the occasion, he recorded and sent by way of fellow Australian Robert Dunne a videorecording of his talk on “A Global and Mining Industry Perspective of the Role of Comminution in the 1.5°C Future.” Although disappointed at not seeing him in person, audience feedback was enthusiastic on his recorded talk. “Steve will be ‘chuffed’ to know that,” Dunne said. Yeonuk Choi, recipient of the Milton E. Wadsworth Award, spoke on “Alternatives to Cyanide for Gold Extraction.” He reviewed alternative hydrometallurgical processes to cyanide, which has been in use for more than a decade but is facing environmental concerns.

Who will be producing the metals vital to the US economy? MPD luncheon speaker testified before Congress

Authored by:
Chee Theng

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